Can They Outsmart Smart Grid Security?

Ya sure, ya betcha--just hack into the "smart meter," say that your usage is zero, and weasel out of your bill altogether.... (For a while, maybe.)

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My reaction is, if this is the biggest security problem we have, we should be very happy indeed. But then, is there actual destructive potential in (largely theoretical) smart grid security holes? Short of a STUXNet infection that could take down all my nuclear centrifuges, none come to mind.

How right you are.

I'll give you an anecdote from the past that illustrates the exact point. Load control has been available since at least WW2 via ripple frequency devices that can turn off connected load, or, in the case of air raid sirens, turn them on. Multiple tarrifs can be controlled with varying guaranteed minimun supply hours. At least 400 channels have traditionally been available, modern bandwidth control could yield 10 times that number.

The technology in my neck of the woods has been known as Zelleweiger from the manufacturer of the relays. The old fashioned way to "hack" these devices was (theoretically at least) fairly simple. Each relay contained a fuse and enterprising individuals arranged to cause these to blow while the relay was in the closed position. Connected load is charged at 1/3 discount for the privelige of being able to turn it off, so with the doctored relay it was (is) cheap power that doesn't get turned off.

To the present. Hackers seem to have a high opinion of themselves to the point of if it can be done it will be done. Just look at Julian Arse Strange and his Pricky Freaks, fools will even applaud the destruction they create.

Call me old fashioned but with how effective (apart from the minor item above) ripple control is, and the capacity it has for expansion, I fail to see any advantage in complicating the issue further.

The event that led to doctoring of the relays was the coal and power industry strikes in the 70s, people soon get jack of no hot water. It was a case of anarchists turning ordinary people into anarchists. Can you see technology changing that?

Having thought about it, the biggest security risk a smart grid imposes is through complacency and convenience. Just because it's there, we'll re-task it for whatever comes to mind at the time. Eventually, you find for example that the hotline between Washington and Moscow and Beijing happens to rely on part of the smart grid in the US or Finland. Or your bank account info starts flowing through your unencrypted gas meter just because it seemed expedient to someone at some time.